Ground breaking ceremony of new Islamabad airport likely in April
KARACHI (March 03 2005): The ground-breaking ceremony of the new Islamabad International Airport (NIIA) is most likely to be held in the first week of April, an official source told the Business Recorder here on Wednesday. Preparations are in full swing to focus the mega project as a shining example of the breakthrough the present government has achieved in different fields, cynics criticism to the contrary notwithstanding, to place the country alongside the progressive and enlightened nations of the world.
The NIIA will be developed on a 3,000 acres of land earmarked some 30 kilometres from the existing airport. It will be developed as a state of the art facility at par with the international standards to serve as a major hub for all aviation activities in the region.
The new airport has been designed to handle an annual traffic of 6.5 million passengers and 100,000 metric tonnes of cargo.
Terminal and cargo handling facilities will be built in two phases initially for an annual passenger traffic of 4.5 million passengers and 50,000 metric tonnes of cargo and then for 6.5 million passengers and 100,000 metric tonnes of cargo.
It will have a 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) runway, excluding overruns and adequate areas for undershoot and overshoot. Passenger handling facilities at the time of inauguration will contain a minimum of 55 check in counters (30 in domestic and 25 in international briefing areas), and five baggage claim units (three in the domestic and two in the international arrival lounges).
The passenger terminal will be equipped with seven passenger boarding bridges, providing service from two gates of wide body aircraft on contact stand for domestic and international traffic.
A 4,000-metre long, 45-metre wide concrete runway (ICAO category 4E), having 7.5-metre wide shoulders. Over-runs on each end will be provided. The runway will have the provision for further upgradation to ICAO category 4F in the future.
It will have a full length parallel taxiway, 23-metre wide, with 10.5-metre wide shoulders and adequate connections to the runway and apron and an apron, having an adequate area to accommodate up to 20 aircraft of different sizes.
The building will have fire, crash and rescue facility complying with the ICAO category 9 and air traffic control tower equipment with all the required communications and aid comprising DVOR, DME, ILS, VHF, ATIS and meteorological equipment etc, remote control of airfield lighting along with all necessary control and monitoring equipment.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2005